Judy's Adventure
by Leelu-reader
Summary: A spineless hydrophobic girl begins a journey in an attempt to get a standing for herself. What will ensue? Will she gain confidence or will plain chaos ensue? Who's the Darkrai wannabe she's travelling with?
1. Chapter 1

Hoenn Stories: Judy's Adventure  
Prologue  
Moving

Judy was sitting on a crowded bus, blocking out the sound of her mother's talking. She had shoulder-length indigo hair, and a burgundy hair band, though it didn't keep her slightly spiky bangs out of her face, and pale jade eyes with a pale heart-shaped face. She had a dark blue shirt on, and a fluffy black and blue scarf she had knitted last year. She had a black and blue plaid skirt on, and black leggings under that. She had a pair of comfortable boots on as well, and had them laced up all the way.  
Her mother, on the other hand, had light brown hair and narrow gray eyes, and a rather angular face. She wore a green sweater with brown pants, giving Judy the mental image of some sort of tree.

Judy sighed again, looking at her black and blue painted nails. Her mother had gotten a new job, and now they were moving to where the job was going to be, meaning that she had to leave her old home, her old school, even her old friend Lizzie, to go off and live somewhere completely different. She was leaving Ecreteuk city, the place she had lived all her life, and was now going to some whole other place...

Well, at least if she moved, she wouldn't run into the Kimono Girls, which would save her some shame, at least...

"If Dad was still here, we wouldn't have had to move..." she mumbled to herself, sighing sadly.  
"Your father has been dead for twelve years, Jude, now will you pay attention to what I'm saying?" her mother said rather sharply.  
Judy glared at her, before standing up. "I'm going to sit somewhere else." With that, she stood up, and started looking for a seat. No, no, that wasn't...no...ah! There!

She quickly darted over to the open seat, before sitting down. She now sat next to a crimson-haired boy, and he just stared out the window, seemingly disinterested. His eyes were reddish as well. He wore a black jacket with red lining and black jeans.  
Judy fiddled with her skirt, blinking at the minimized Pokeballs on his belt. Intimidating and gruff though he appeared, at least he was quiet, unlike her mother...

Several Hours later in Olivine City...

Judy climbed off the bus, grabbing her small suitcase and following her mother to a ship at the dock. Apparently where they were going was too far to take a train, so they were taking a ship. Judy bit her lip; she hadn't been on a ship since Dad died...

She shook her head, before following her mother up the ramp onto the ship.

No stopping now, she mentally groaned, dragging her wheeled suitcase behind her as she turned her back on her old home region...


	2. Chapter 2

Hoenn Stories: Judy's Adventure  
Ch. 2  
Littleroot: Encounter

Judy groggily awoke the next morning, blinking at the weird white shape obscuring her vision. She slowly grabbed it and flipped it over, realizing there was writing on it.

_"Judo,_

I had to leave for work early today. We're having dinner at the Birch's later tonight, so try not to spoil your appetite today, and if you have to wander around, don't go any farther than Odale towwn.

-Mom"  
  
Judy set the note aside, climbing out of bed to change her clothes and find her hairbrush. Oh well, if she was gonna be alone for the day, might as well explore the place...

~~~Fifteen minutes later...~~~

Judy walked out of the house, wearing a dark blue dress-type thing, black and white striped socks, her trademark scarf, boots, and headband, and fingerless gloves that barely passed her wrists.  
She walked around the entire small town, before walking north towards the grassier route between her town and Odale town, wondering vaguely why everyone kept saying the same thing over and over again whenever she talked to-

"Zigza!"

...what the heck was that?

Judy looked around, spotting a Zigzagoon at the base of a nearby tree, growling up at the branches with bits f fabric in its mouth. Blinking, she looked higher up, wondering wha-

"H-help me! In my bag! There's three Ppokeballs with Pokemon in them! Pick one and help me!"

...okay,, there was a grown brunette man in a lab coat clinging to a branch out of the Pokemon's reach, clearly scared.

Judy shook her head, clearing her thoughts, before hurrying over to the aforementioned discarded bag and grabbing one of three Pokeballs that was in it, just as the Zigzagoon focused its attention on her. It growled, before bounding over, fangs bared. Panicking, Judy pressed the release button, and there was a bright flash-

"Mud...kip!"

-and a small blue Pokemon with orange cheeks and blue fins popped out, blue fin tail twitching as it looked at Judy, curious. The shaggy brown furball sniffed arrogantly at the Mudkip, obviously not impressed. Judy glared, feeling miffed for once.  
"You can't look down on us like that! Mudkip, Water Gun!"

Mudkip blinked, before shooting a small blast of water at the unprepared Pokemon. It growled, before charging for a Tackle, running slightly towards its right. Judy noticed this, then called out her next move, smirking.

"Dodge left and use Mud Slap!" she cried, confidence bubbling up.

Mudkip paused, waiting for the Zigzagoon to get close enough, then leaped to the left, using her fin-like tail to fling mud at the surprised opponent. The Zigzagoon tumbled over, before standing back up, panting. It shot Judy and the Mudkip one last look, before darting off into the tall grass, clearly sensing it was time to back down.

Judy blinked, looking at the Mudkip. Did she seriously just have her first battle? And win, for that matter?

"That was quite impressive!"  
Judy jumped, whirling around to the person in the tree, only now they had climbed down, brushing dirt and leaves off his coat.  
"Um...thanks. Who are you, anyways?" Judy asked after recalling the Mudkip.  
"Oh! Right, I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Professor Birch, I live back in Littleroot. I was doing some fieldwork when that Zigzagoon jumped me. I have to say, I'm glad you showed up when you did!" he laughed, scratching the back of his head, ignoring the tears on his labcoat and such.  
"...wait, Birch? Do you know my Mom? She said we were having dinner with some people named Birch tonight..." Judy remembered.  
"You're Ms. Applegate's daughter, then? That's right, my wife mentioned that. We have a son about your age that helps me with fieldwork...but anyways, I have to thank you somehow for saving me back there...I've got it! You can keep that Mudkip!" Professor Birch declared, snapping his fingers.  
Judy blinked, mind not registering for a moment what he just said. "...r-really? I get to keep it?"  
"Of course! Unless you don't want it..." he replied, grin falling.  
"No! No, Of course I want it! Thank you!" she hastily agreed, gripping the Pokeball in her hands.  
"Well then, it's settled! That Mudkip belongs to you now, Judy! You take care of it, okay?" Birch asked, grin returning.  
"Of course! Thank you!" With that, Judy took off running for her house, a feeling of euphoria driving her forward. Not only had she won her first battle, now she had her very first Pokemon!

She grinned, skidding to a stop outside her house. She couldn't wait to tell Lizzie all about this!


	3. Chapter 3

Hoenn Stories: Judy's Adventure  
Ch. 3  
Littleroot: Lasagna

Judy quickly dug the video phone out of the hallway closet, Pokeball clutched in her other hand as she darted into her room. She quickly dialed Lizzie's phone number, before releasing her new Mudkip from its ball. The blue Pokemon blinked, looking around the new room. Judy smiled as Lizzie's face appeared on the screen.

"Hey Judy!...woah, you're smiling? What happened?" Lizzie asked, blinking at her friend's odd display of cheerfulness.  
"I was exploring around the town, and then I went north and the local Professor was being attacked by a Zigzagoon, and welll..." here Judy lifted the Mudkip up, smiling. "He let me keep the Pokemin I battled with!" she cheered.  
"Kip!" the Mudkip cheered.  
"Wow, that's awesome, Judy! Have you named her yet?" Lizzie asked.  
"It's a girl?" Judy asked.  
"Yeah! Her gills are smaller than a male's! Plus, her tail's slightly longer than normal males."  
"Oh..." Judy looked the blue Pokemon over, thinking. "...Kips?"  
"Real creative, Judo." Lizzie joked.  
"Hey! She's not complaining!" Judy pouted.  
"Kip!" Kips chirped happily, hopping down.  
"Well, looks like it works for her." Lizzie laughed.  
"Yeah...I gotta go, I don't know when Mom's gonna call..." Judy said, sad.  
"Oh, okay. Well, call soon, okay? Next time I'll make sure Bobo is awake to see you!" Lizzie giggled.  
Judy laughed as well, knowing full well the Meowth's lazy tendencies wouldn't make that an easy task. "Sure, Lizzie. Seeya." With that, Judy reluctantly turned the phone off, before turning to Kips, who was now curled up on her pillow.

"...I wonder what I should do now...I have one Pokemon...should I become a trainer? Dad used to talk about getting me a Pokemon and taking me with him on his travels...maybe I should start my own journey? It'd be better than hanging around here doing nothing, I guess..." Judy pondered to herself. True, she'd rather be exploring than staying in this town and going to school like a boring person, but...

"...I don't know ANYTHING about this place..." Judy sighed, standing up and sitting down on the bed next to Kips. The Mudkip glanced at her, before curling back up and falling asleep. Judy giggled at the display, before looking at the ceiling. What would Dad say if he was here...?

Judy smiled slightly. She could almost hear him;

_"Forget the logic, just follow what your gut tells ya, kiddo! Although, still use some logic, otherwise you'll end up in over your head, like I was when we accidentally knocked down that Beedrill nest..."_

Judy sighed, glancing at the clock. 20 minutes 'til Mom would be home...

~~~~~~25 minutes pass...~~~~

Judy quickly recalled Kips and hid the Pokeball as she heard the door open up, then scrambled downstairs to meet her mom.

"Hey Mom. Have a good day at work?" Judy asked, straightening her hair.  
"Eh, it was fine. Politoed knocked over a stack of my papers, but other than that, it was uneventful..." her Mom replied. The Politoed had originally belonged to Judy's father, but after he had died, her mother held onto the green frog Pokemon, despite how troublesome it could be at times. Sometimes Judy wondered if this was her mother's way of coping with his death; even before that day, Politoed had always annoyed her, and she used to complain and threaten to release said Pokemon, yet here she was, still tolerating the green amphibious pest.

Judy shook her head, before grabbing her backpack and following her mother out the door to the Birch's house. Hopefully there'd be someone there her age she could talk to...

Five minutes later, the pair approached another house not too far away from their own house. It looked almost exactly the same as their house, except perhaps a trifle larger and different colored flowers out front. Of course.

Judy couldn't help but roll her eyes as her mother rang the doorbell. Within seconds, what looked like an eight year old boy answered the door. Judy raised a brow; when her mom said the Birches had a kid her age, she had hoped that she had at least meant 13...  
"Mom! The neighbors are here!" the midget yelled at the kitchen.  
"Would you go get your brother?!" a woman's voice called back. Judy gave a small sigh of relief; okay, maybe Mom only meant the older one...

The kid ran off, and Judy and her mom slowly walked in, both taking their shoes off as they did. Judy looked around; the downstairs was pretty much one big room with partial walls to separate the different areas. Mrs. Birch was in the kitchen pulling a large lasagna out of the oven (Judy's stomach growled at the sight of it; she LOVED lasagna...), the munchkin was pulling a teenager around her age down the stairs by his belt, the older of the two wearing a green headband with white hair-

...white hair? Was he part albino or something? How did he have white hair if the rest of his family was a bunch of brunettes? How did that work? Maybe he bleached his hair or something? No, that couldn't be it, it was white down to his roots.  
That was strange...

"Brandon, quit yanking on my belt!" the albino yelled.  
"Hurry up before the lasagna's gone, Brenden!" the pipsqueak dubbed Brandon countered.

Judy blinked at the display; if that was what it was like to have siblings, then she was glad she was an only child...

The door soon opened again, and Professor Birch entered the house, hanging up his lab jacket on a hook nearby.  
"Hey Judy! Hello Ms. Applegate! Glad you both could make it!" he greeted, going to help his wife carry stuff out of the kitchen. Judy blinked, before following her mother over to the table. Well, this wasn't awkward...

Soon enough, food was served, and everyone was crowded around the table with lasagna, garlic toast, and salad on their plates. Judy was attacking her lasagna, clearly enjoying it. The albino and the midget were talking about some gym in Petalburg city, her mom was talking to Mrs. birch about some company in Kanto, and Professor Birch was trying to make a sandwich with two pieces of garlic toast and lasagna. Judy blinked at the last one, but just shrugged it off.

"Hey Dad, when did you say that spare Pokedex was gonna come in?" Brenden suddenly asked.  
"Oh, some time tomorrow, I believe. Could you pass a few napkins?" the professor added sheepishly as his lasagna-sandwich creation exploded on his front. Judy held back a giggle and both her mother ans Mrs. Birch both shot him a look, while the two boys just laughed outright.

Well, it was funner than just sitting around her house, anyways...

~~~~~~~~~2 hours later...~~~~~~~~

Judy was flopped on her bed, drowsy from the day's excitement. She should probably introduce Kips to her mother, but honestly, she was too exhausted to do it now. Maybe in the morning...

With that, she yawned one last time before pulling the covers over her head and falling asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Hoenn Stories: Judy's Adventure  
Ch. 4  
Odale Town: Battle

Judy woke up with something poking her face. She opened one bleary eye and saw Kips' Pokeball had rolled out from under her pillow and under her cheek. She blinked at it, rubbing her eye and now sore cheek. She probably should find a better place for that...  
She yawned, before sitting up and walking downstairs, vaguely wondering where her mom was. Her answer awaited her in the form of a note taped to the fridge.

_Judy,_

Took the day off work to take Politoed to the lab for Professor Birch to examine. There's leftovers in the fridge if you get hungry. You can go exploring around, Odale Town's nearby, and I think that Brendon kid's doing field work somewhere around there. Oh, and Ms. Birch mentioned something about you getting a Pokemon, so I expect you to show me when I get home, alright?

Mom

  
Judy sighed, before getting a chunk of lasagna and a green pepper from the fridge. She stuck the lasagna in the mini-oven and munched on the green pepper like an apple as the lasagna warmed up. She tossed the pepper core into the compost before retrieving the lasagna from the warmer, then carried it upstairs. As soon as she was sitting on her bed, she released Kips, munching her lasagna, weird thing to have for breakfast fact aside.  
Kips blinked, then stepped onto Judy's leg, sniffing at the lasagna. Judy giggled, cutting a portion of it off and offering it to the Pokemon. She didn't know if Pokemon were supposed to eat table food, but she figured it couldn't hurt. Plus, it was really good lasagna.  
The blue tadpole-like Pokemon sniffed at the food, nibbled it, then quickly proceeded to devour it. Judy giggled, finishing her own portion, before setting her plate down and rubbing the fin on Kip's head. Kips chirped happily, then darted back under the covers.  
"You remind me of Bobo almost. When I was little and used to sleep over at Lizzie's, he'd crawl under the covers, and either me or Lizzie would wake up with a lap full of Meowth." Judy joked, giggling. She got up to take her plate downstairs, smiling at the lump in her blankets.

As soon as she was downstairs, the phone rang. She blinked, looking around before answering it.  
"Hello?"  
"Hey Judy!" Professor Birch's voice replied. "Listen, could you swing by the lab later? There's something here I want to give you."  
"It's something harmless, right?" she asked nervously. She had watched FAR too many cop shows to be comfortable.  
"You sound like Brendon when I gave him his..." Birch grumbled, before perking up again. "Speaking of, could you go tell him I need him to come back to the lab for a bit? He's just north of Odale Town, I believe."  
"Um, sure, I guess." she replied, unsure.  
"Great! See you both in a bit!" With that, he hung up. Judy sighed slightly, hanging up as well before walking back upstairs to get Kips. Something told her she'd be needing her...

She found Kips crawling out from the blankets when she reached her room.

"Hey Kips, we're going out again, come on." Judy grabbed the Pokeball and quickly recalled Kips, before pulling on a large hoodie and a pair of jeans. Not very practical, but it wasn't like she'd be wearing it for long. She tied her scarf around her neck, before putting on her headband and boots. She then went back downstairs, then walked out the door, locking it behind her.

~~~~

"Ow..."

Judy grumbled, slowly standing up. She had tripped yet again, though fortunately she hadn't fallen on her face this time. She rubbed her bruised palms, before continuing on, spotting a few buildings in the near distance. She quickened her pace, watching the ground to avoid tripping again.

As soon as she entered the town, she noticed that it wasn't much bigger than Littleroot, even with the Pokecenter and Pokemart. Well, whatever, it wasn't like-

"Hey Judy!"

She jumped, turning around to see a familiar mop of white hair darting towards her. Brendon grinned, scratching his head.  
"What're you doing out here? From the way you acted last night, I just sort of assumed that you didn't go out of your room very much-hey, Dad said you had a Pokemon! Wanna have a quick battle?" Brendon asked, talking quickly. Judy blinked, having trouble keeping up with how fast he was talking.  
"...um...sure?" she replied, grabbing Kips' ball.  
"Great!" With that, Brendon grabbed his Pokeball, releasing a small, lizard-looking green Pokemon with an orange belly and a weird as heck growth...no, tail coming out of its butt.  
"Treecko..." it deadpanned, looking up at Judy.

She sighed, glancing at the obviously plant-type, before releasing Kips. The familiar blue tadpole blinked at the weird green thing, before crouching down, clearly ready for battle.

"Okay, Treecko, use sand attack!" Brendon ordered.  
"Water gun and Tackle!" Judy countered instinctively.

Treecko immediately kicked sand up at Kips, but the blue tadpole shot water at the attack, sending the new mud falling to the ground. Before Treecko had a chance to respond, the Mudkip had darted forward and tackled the green lizard. The lizard was startled, but soon stood up.

"Use Absorb while it's still close!" Brendon ordered.  
The Treecko opened its eyes and a green glow surrounded it. The glow soon surrounded Kips as well, and her eyes started to sag. Judy panicked.  
"Kips! Snap out of it with Mud Slap!" she cried out.

Kips shook her head and flung the mud from the earlier attack at the Treecko. The Treecko stumbled back, trying to wipe the mud out of its face. Judy saw the chance and leapt for it.  
"Use Tackle while he's distracted, and finish him with Water Gun!" she cried out.

Kips charged and crashed into the Treecko, knocking it back a foot or so. By the time it looked up, Kips had shot the Water Gun, and it flew backwards and crumpled to the ground, swirly-eyed and soaking wet.

Judy blinked, watching Brendon recall his Treecko with a grin, finding herself dumbfounded.

"Hey, not bad. You'd make a pretty strong trainer if you had the backbone for it!" Brendon laughed lightly.  
"Maybe..." Judy mumbled, before remembering what she had come out here for. "Oh yeah, Prof. Birch wanted us to meet him at the lab for something..."  
"Really? Well, let's get going then!" With that, the albino ran off, headed for Littleroot.

Judy sighed, before walking into the Poke'center. Might as well heal Kips before heading back...

~~~10 minutes later...~~~

"Here are your Pokemon, miss!"

Judy looked up, taking her Pokeball back from the pink-haired nurse with a nod before standing up off the couch. There were some other kids lounging around the lobby, and a couple trainers were even going through the lunch counters for food.

Judy shrugged, before walking out, eyes on the ground. Maybe one day she'd have the guts to become a trainer...

~~~

Judy paused by the lab entrance, struggling to catch her breath. After checking the Pokecenter clock and seeing what time it was, she had nearly sprinted the whole way back to Littleroot. Soon as she had caught her breath, she slowly entered the lab, hoping she wasn't too late.

As soon as she walked in, she immediately flinched from the look Brendon was giving her. She was late, no doubt about it. NO ONE glared at her like that except when she was late, or broke something valuable, like a vase or diagram.

Professor Birch turned around then, and shot her a quick grin. "Hey Jude! Glad you could make it!" he greeted cheerfully. Well, at least ONE person wasn't giving her looks.  
"Uh, yeah. You wanted to see us?" Judy asked sheepishly.  
"Well, just you, but I figured Brendon would make good moral support, seeing how well you two get along. Now then..." At this, the professor began digging through a nearby pouch, before pulling out a small red device. "This, is a Pokedex. I have already registered your name and Pokemon into it, You should be ready to start training anytime you like now!" With that, the professor handed the red device to the somewhat shocked Judy.

"...what?" she croaked out. Professor Birch laughed, not unkindly.  
"I figured you'd be surprised. We've been noticing you pacing around town when you're not holing yourself up in your room, so we figured you'd like to get out, explore, maybe even become a trainer! You seem apt enough with your Mudkip, it can't hurt!" Birch continued.  
"Plus, your Mudkip is bound to get restless." Brendon added.

Judy blinked, glancing at the lone Pokeball in her hand. True, Kips really seemed to enjoy battling...and she WAS bored out her skull in this town...but she had looked at a map, and a good number of towns involved crossing water to get to...

She shook her head, clearing the mental images and nausea away, before looking back up at the Professor.

"O-okay..." she agreed, nodding.

"Great! Now, many trainers choose between either coordinating contests or the Pokemon League Challenge, but it's really up to you. You can choose between either, but both require traveling across Hoenn, so you might need to tell your mother where you're going..." Birch added as an afterthought.

Judy nodded, then tried to walk out, but Brendon grabbed her shoulder, holding something out. She blinked at the five minimized Pokeballs, then nodded and took them, darting out before he had a chance to explain anything.

Judy collapsed on her bed, almost completely numb. Offer though Professor Birch had given her, it almost seemed like an expectation.  
"Ugh...peer pressure..." she groaned, holding her stomach. She would have puked now if she hadn't already thrown up after she got home. She pulled her blanket over her head, biting her lip. True, she was bored out of her mind, and wanted to get out of this hick town, but did she even have what it took?

She poked her head out, and glanced at the picture on her nightstand. Honestly, if it faded every time she looked at it, it would be a white square now. She slowly picked it up, looking at her dad's smiling face again, before staring up at the ceiling.

It felt like she stayed that way for hours, before she slowly sat up, walking to her closet and pulling out her backpack and a few old shirts, as well as her sewing kit. Her backpack was riddled with holes from the time Bobo had used it for playtime, but it was easily repairable...

~~~~~~30 minutes later...~~~~~~~

Judy looked over her handiwork, smiling slightly. Her faded blue backpack now had black and white patches where the holes previously were. She dug through her room, loading up her backpack with the basic necessities, a few extra clothes, and a swim suit, before strapping her Pokeballs (Kips' and the empties) onto her belt. Judy looked into a mirror, blinking at her reflection. She now saw a girl with indigo hair, pale jade eyes, and a burgundy hair band with a black and blue scarf and a patchy backpack with six Pokeballs strapped to her belt. She was wearing a blue plaid skirt, a lighter blue long sleeved shirt, and black boots that went up to her knees, and black and white striped socks. It wasn't the most traditional trainer's wear, but it was good enough for her.

She set the picture of her and her dad back on it's place on the nightstand, then walked downstairs with her bag to wait for her mother's return.

It didn't take long, Judy thought since right as she stepped into the living room, the front door opened, and in walked her mother and a bright green Politoed.

"Hey Judo. So, what're you all packed up for?" her mother asked.  
Judy took a deep breath, then- "I'm going for a Pokemon journey."

Her mother blinked, clearly surprised, then gave a light smile. "Tired of everyone thinking you're a wimp, kiddo?"  
"I didn't say that..." Judy mumbled, though her mother did have a point.  
"Well, if you think it's going to help, go for it, kiddo." her Mom replied.  
Judy stared. "...you're letting me go?"  
Judy's mother walked over and put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Judy, you've been a recluse since you were little. If you're willing to go out on your own in the world...well, I don't think trying to stop you would be good for you at all. I want you to be a strong girl, kid, and keeping you cooped up in here while I'm at work isn't going to make that happen. You're smart enough to be able to make it, Judy. I know it. Just make sure to call me, okay?"

Judy blinked, then nodded and hugged her mother. "Okay, Mom." she whispered, throat constricted. After a moment, she let go, then grabbed her bag and slowly walked out, only pausing to rub Politoed's head goodbye.

She walked out of the house, then took off running for Odale Town, remembering there was a sign that pointed to Petalburg there.  
Despite everything, Judy grinned, feeling oddly exhilarated as she took the first few sprints of what would no doubt be a very long journey...


End file.
